-Four South Africans with links to Isis, including twin brothers, have been arrested for planning attacks on Jewish institutions and on the US Embassy in Pretoria.

A police spokesperson said that Brandon-Lee and Tony-Lee Thulsie, 23, and two other people identified as siblings Fatima and Ibrahim Mohammed Patel, were arrested in Johannesburg by the anti-terrorism unit, following a 10-month investigation. The were arrested before boarding a flight to Syria.

They appeared before the Johannesburg Central Magistrate’s Court Where they were charged with conspiracy to perform terrorist acts.

In June, Britain and the United States warned of a high threat of attacks against foreigners in the country's shopping malls.

South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein sais that “any Jewish institution is a potential target, just as Western installations are.”

Over the last several years, the South African Jewish community has “taken a number of steps to raise the security of its synagogues and schools,” he said, with partial funding from the South African government.

Global terrorism is an “unfortunate reality of the modern world in which we live,” Goldstein said. “Thank God nothing has happened, but the threat of something happening is a threat present in all of South Africa and around the world. Responsible efforts have to be made to counter the threat.”

The Vice President of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) Zev Krengel stressed that the arrest of the South African “terror twins” highlights the fact that “global terrorism has no boundaries.”

‘’Terrorism is a global challenge that affects many countries, including our own. We appreciate efforts by our authorities to monitor and prevent incidents of terrorism, and we will be monitoring the current situation,’’ he said.

‘’Security is an ongoing exercise and will continue to be prioritized in our community,” he said.

According to Krengel, South Africa has some of the “lowest levels of antisemitism in the world, and the global threat of terrorism is one which the South African government takes very seriously.”

Around 50,000 Jews live in the country, the largest Jewish community in Africa.